Joey
by Relatively Unknown
Summary: A songfic using Bon Jovi's song Joey. You can guess who it's about. It's told from Tristan's POV.


A/N: First Yu-Gi-Oh fic, and of course it's about Joey. He's my fave character. It's the  
Brooklyn accent, I swear! Anyways, this is a songfic. The song is, aptly enough, "Joey"  
by Bon Jovi. It's told through Tristan's POV.

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SANITIZED: LYRICS HAVE BEEN REMOVED. THIS IS THE FFNET APPROVED, SANITARY, MADE-FOR-KIDDIES VERSION. TO VIEW THE ORIGINAL, GO TO MY SITE AND VENTURE UNDER "THE WORKS" AND THE APPROPRIATE SHOW.

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_MISSING WORDS_

I've known Joey "Keys" Wheeler a long time. It seems almost forever. I met him when  
my family moved to the other side of town. He was the paper boy, and went from  
apartment door to apartment door delivering papers. He was a little younger than me, so  
at first I paid no attention to him. But one day, Mom offered him to come inside and get  
something to drink. It was a hot summer day and he had to climb to the tenth floor to get  
to our apartment, because the elevator was broke.

I asked my mom if I she knew where the park was. I wanted to go play football or  
something. She didn't know, but Joey offered to show me since that was on his way  
home. My mom agreed, and to this day I don't know what made her trust Joey. He was  
dressed in ripped jeans, a backwards baseball hat, and paint splattered T-shirt. How do I  
remember? Simple, he wore the same outfit until about a year ago.

He rode his bike slow so I could keep up, and took me to the park. There he left me,  
saying he'd be back in about an hour. On the way we had talked, and both of us realized  
we liked the same sports, although different teams. It must have been football I wanted to  
play, because I asked him he wanted to play a game with me. That's when he said he'd be  
back. Sure enough he came back, same outfit minus the hat, and we played football. He  
was a fast. After a while we became tired and sat down to talk.

A little while later, a man showed up yelling 'Keys!'. Joey said he had to go, and walked  
up to the man. Later I found out that it was his dad, and the story behind why he was  
called "Keys". It's a really funny story. I'll have to tell you sometime.

_MISSING WORDS_

I remember the restaurant his parents owned. It was an Italian one, and always smelled  
like spaghetti sauce to me. His parents were the absolute best cooks in the world,  
although Joey couldn't make anything worth a lick. Well, there were those scary creations  
we cooked up, but no one dared tasting it for fear of being poisoned or worse.

I'd be the first to admit that Joey wasn't the brightest person in the world when it came to  
academics, but he knew the streets like the back of his hand. And when it came to the  
streets, he was tough and ready to rumble. I have seen him with more black eyes than I  
can count, yet every time I always knew the other guy was probably worse off. Joey has  
always had a quick temper, but his anger usually doesn't stick around.

I remember the nights we used to spend at each other's places. We'd be up all night  
arguing over who was the best team, the prettiest girl, the best superhero, etc. Joey has an  
imagination that you wouldn't believe. Most of the time he hides his real self and puts on  
that act of a street brat, but if you ever catch him when he's drawing or writing, you'd be  
amazed. Some of his stories you would swear a professional writer wrote. But don't tell  
him I know, because the only reason I do is because I stole his notebook by accident once.  
I put it back and he never noticed.

_MISSING WORDS_

The others don't know Joey like I do. The closest would probably be Yugi, but he doesn't  
know half the stuff I do about Joey. Like the "Keys" thing. Only myself and his dad call  
him that, and only when no one else is around. I might have to change that. I would just  
love seeing him explain that to Yugi and Téa. Nah, I'm not that mean. Well, unless he  
provokes me.

Joey has some of the craziest dreams. Depending on what day of the week it is, he could  
want to be an astronaut, a cowboy, an entrepeneur, a CEO like Seto Kaiba, or some  
wealthy billionare like Pegasus. Of course, how he's going to get the money involves  
even crazier things, and the likes of which I'm not going to mention because I know you  
won't believe me. Just think about Joey inventing something, and you can figure out the  
rest.

Another thing he wants to do is to get out of this town. He wants to see the world. I asked  
how he was going to do it, and you know what his reply was? 'Simple, Tristan. Just throw  
my stuff in the car and take off. I don't care where I go or how I get there, just as long as I  
do. That's all that matters.' I swear, word for word, that is what he said. I asked if I could  
come along. He just grinned and said I'd have to beat him at football before that can  
happen. I don't expect you know this, but he's never beaten me at football.

_MISSING WORDS_

I met Rhonda on my way to my after school job. She was, literally, the bomb. The poster  
girl Joey and I had dreamt up. We started dating, and once Joey came with us. (I invited  
him so he wouldn't feel left out.) Well, that ticked Rhonda off. Joey would drop subtle  
hints that he liked her, but he would never directly hit on her, probably because he knew  
I'd chase him to Tokyo and back. But she blew it out of proportion and dumped me. Joey  
thought I blamed him and avoided me for a week before I finally caught him in school  
one day. I told him that she wasn't what I thought she was, and that it wasn't his fault. He  
was so relieved he about fainted.

_MISSING WORDS_

Man the times have changed. After the Duelist Kingdom, things kinda went downhill.  
Sure, Serenity is doing great, but things are rough at home. Joey's mom died a few years  
ago, and he's now left with his dad. The man tries, honestly he does, but he's been at the  
bottom of the bottle for so long now. He lost the restaurant to some newcomers, and it's  
still there, still doing great, but I never go there. It's not the same.

But like I said, Serenity is doing great, and that's what's keeping Joey going. He and his  
sister grew up in different homes for most of their lives. They're only half brother and  
sister, but you'd never know it. (They had the same mom-- the one that died was Joey's  
stepmom.) He's always looked after her, and will continue to do so until the day he dies.  
He told me that once, and I believe him. Joey is like my younger brother, and I know  
that's what I'll do until the day I die.

_MISSING WORDS_

We always say that we'll get out of this town. Yugi and Téa don't really believe us, but  
they don't know us. They see us fight, and they think we're being stupid, but what we're  
really doing is showing how much we are like brothers. When Joey started Dueling, I  
taunted and teased him, but it was for a reason. Joey always liked to prove himself to me;  
I was just giving some more motivation. He knew it and I knew it, but we don't need to  
say a word to understand it. I know that the others never will, but that's okay. Yeah, one  
day Joey and I will get out this town. Find a better life. And you know we'll have some  
interesting adventures along the way.

_MISSING WORDS_


End file.
